Purity?

[Shangobango]

I’m itching to arrow a mature whitetail on public ground. It’s a lot of what’s been keeping me up at night lately.

Nothing compares to it for me, at least nothing that I have found yet.

 

[LuketheDog]

I hunt both private and public land. I am lucky to have easy access to both in my county. Here's my question. Do you value a trophy or animal more if it comes from public land as opposed to private land? In terms of experience or challenge or whatever, is one "better" than the other in your opinion?

I prefer to hunt public for my own tags. But, when my daughters are old enough to pull the trigger I'd love to have access to some private land in order for them to get in a 'pure' hunt without interference from other hunters, just to get a few under their belt. I was fortunate to have that when I was starting out, and success whets the appetite when you're a beginner.

 

[Nick87]

To me it makes no difference who owns the land, it's all about the hunt. However I understand the purity question here. I went on one guided hunt in my life, wont ever do it again. Wont knock anyone who does, it just wasnt for me. I didnt feel liked I hunted that animal one bit, just shot it. Maybe I'm wierd idk. Same goes for waterfowl hunting I go alone quite a bit when other friends of mine will go with another group. If I'm not the one who scouted the birds, planned it out, and set the spread, I really dont take much joy in it. To me if I dont do every bit of the work it's just shooting.

 

[D_Walt]

I’ve had the tremendous fortune to hunt whitetails for most of my life on fantastic large private ranches in South Texas (everything is private down here). It’s a tremendous amount of fun and I have killed some whopper whitetails. But to compare that type of hunting to the challenge and adventure of hunting the mountains on public land is an apples to oranges comparison. Doesn’t diminish the animals at all, but frankly anyone with a shred of patience and can shoot reasonably straight can kill a big deer on good private down here.
I am way more proud of the dinky DIY bulls I’ve killed in Colorado in OTC units (and a couple really nice mulies) than some of the big whitetails I have on the wall. Doesn’t mean I don’t like my whitetails just that if I’m telling a hunting story it will be about being back in the mountains on an adventure, not waiting on a whitetail at step into a clearing.

 

[Wayne_Brent]

Depends on the individual hunt, for me.
I’ve hunted private land in the east where it’s harder, to be successful, than most public land out west.

 

[F250]

It's a mix of public and private for me. Good public is tough to find in the Northeast. Landing good private takes lots of work. It's 6:00 AM here. I'm headed out now to visit with a dairy farmer who will be feeding cows. Turkey season is in May !!

 

[mdhunter]

If you could only hunt public land in Maryland it could be very frustrating. So no, I don’t really care about the purity test.

 

[Hem]

Makes no difference to me since the few private places I have hunted have as much hunting pressure as do public. I burned out at getting denied at front doors decades ago.

 

[Lee bergstrom]

My opinion is the trophy comes from the eye of the beholder. Whether it’s private or public, how much effort, planning, and execution it took to harvest the animal, that gives you the pride. There usually is a great story behind every animal private or public

 

[thusby]

Killing a buck in a low density area of public land is what led me to hunt the boundary waters this year. Killing a deer in there, regardless of size, would be a greater accomplishment than sitting on private land at the edge of a cornfield.

 

[1_pointer]

One thing not touched on too much is the ownership of the private. Working on lands you own to improve the habitat and then to harvest the critter increases my sense of fulfillment of the process over just getting permission to hunt a place.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

If you could only hunt public land in Maryland it could be very frustrating. So no, I don’t really care about the purity test.

Context; perhaps for me the purity test is if I can doze off and in those first seconds after the snap of a twig discern in my foggy state not only the ownership of the land, but also the chittiness of impending packout.

Looking through my photos I'm drawn more to those of peaks and slow meandering rivers far from any road.

I find myself day dreaming about obscure mountain valley's, and wondering what they might hold.

Though, when I'm sitting in a blind, watching the setting sun ignite the sky above the irrigated fields on fire, not once have I regretted my time spent on that moment.

4 deer hunts, 2 public, 2 private

 

[BigHornRam]

Any animal or experience that has special meaning for you.

My favorite hunting takes place on roadless mountain terrain which is 99.999% public. That's what I value the most when hunting.

 

[mplane72]

I try real hard to not get caught up in this kind of mental masturbation anymore and usually keep most of those thoughts to myself but since you asked.

In my eyes the public land animal usually means more to me as a hunting accomplishment and even the ability/luck of the animal to evade hunters as long as they have. I hunt both but I feel much more at ease on public.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Finding a trophy on public land is an achievement. I did it on the same playing field as everyone else. That makes the achievement noteworthy on a worldwide basis ... because anyone else in the world had a chance but couldn't do it. The broader the opportunity for competition, the more valuable the achievement. I have taken some decent trophies in Africa, all on private land ... because there is no public land hunting in South Africa. Not canned hunts but not far from it. Definitely high fence. No getting around that (pun intended). I enjoyed the vast and interesting country, the people, and the abundance of wildlife which all made the hunt a memorable experience. But no way do I value those trophies as much as the public land solo DIY elk and deer racks on the wall. So someone want to start a similar thread about the value or not of guided hunt trophies?

 

[the nikster]

I have also done both.
While I prefer the public there is not any real difference to me.

 

[marshman]

Never had the opportunity to hunt private land for big game, do not know the difference.

 

[Panda Bear]

I hunt both private and public land. I am lucky to have easy access to both in my county. Here's my question. Do you value a trophy or animal more if it comes from public land as opposed to private land? In terms of experience or challenge or whatever, is one "better" than the other in your opinion?

I would think each individual would know going into the hunt what the risks and rewards would be. I would assume, but don't know, all private land hunts would be easier, which might be a good thing for handicapped, elderly, and possibly even rookie hunters. For those who want more from the hunt, than the hunt itself, I would think public would be the way to go.

As to the animal itself, if a "trophy" is the goal, then I am not sure it would matter. If a "trophy" is important to you, then choose the hunt that gives you the best odds of bagging a "trophy"

This is hard for me to relate to as approximately 90% of the land is owned by the Crown and/or First Nation treaties. When away from the Whitehorse area it would be hard to find private land. ( 185000 sq miles, with 40000 residents and 1/2 of those are in Whitehorse).

I have mentioned this before: one can still own 160 acres of land---free/not free---if you remain on the land for 7 years, clear it and farm it, build a home on it. If the land is valued at 100,000--you must live and work the land for seven years and invest 100,000 ( home, fences, improvements )----but if you do all that it is free Surprisingly more women than men have attempted this and possibly even more surprising, more women than men last the 7 years.

Ben, the short answer, for me, would be, whichever would provide the quickest hunt and best meat.

This was discussed in a meeting with elders, and Crown officials yesterday, therefore my overly long and boring reply

 

[RobertD]

Either can be great. A whitetail buck on family land means something special but entirely different to me when compared, for example, to my public land antelope.

Think I'd rather hunt public out west if given the choice. But I'm not picky and have had a great time on public and private, west and east.

 

[Ben Long]

Great discussion, folks. Tastes vary and the great thing is we have both. In a given year I might hunt family land, friends' ranches, corporate timber, private block management, and national forest or BLM. Each offers something different. Public land, IMO, is special and needs to be treasured and well-managed, but is not more "pure" than anyplace else. I see it as both/and not either/and. Thanks for sharing your perspectives.